Long lines, 60 hours wait, shelter and for some racism awaits them as they flee Ukraine for Poland

The European Union is preparing to grant Ukrainians who flee the war the right to stay and work in the 27-nation bloc for up to three years, senior EU and French officials said.

At least 300,000 Ukrainian refugees have entered the EU so far, and the bloc needs to prepare for millions more, they said. EU members Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary have land borders with Ukraine.

"It is our duty to take in those who flee war," French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France 2 TV on Monday, saying EU interior minister had on Sunday tasked the European Commission with preparing draft proposals to grant them protection.

Also read |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/zelensky-sceptical-but-say-will-try-dialogue-with-russia-457239">&nbsp;Zelensky sceptical, but says will 'try' dialogue with Russia</a>

Ministers will meet again on Thursday to agree on the details.

The EU temporary protection directive, drawn up after the 1990s war in the Balkans, but never used so far, provides for the same level of protection, for one to three years, in all EU states, including a residence permit, access to employment, social welfare and medical treatment.

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said most ministers had brought their support to the move on Sunday, with just some questioning if now was the time to do it or if it was best to wait a bit.

The issue, she said, concerns all of the EU.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/kyiv-mayor-proud-of-citizens-spirit-anxious-about-future-457348">Kyiv mayor proud of citizens' spirit, anxious about future</a>

"We already see a lot of Ukrainians leaving the countries of first entry and go to other member states, especially those that have a big Ukrainian population already," she told a news conference on Sunday. "Poland is one of them but also Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic."

"All EU member states are prepared to accept refugees from Ukraine," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

"This is a strong response by Europe to the terrible suffering that Putin inflicts with his criminal war of aggression: Together, we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine."

Watch |&nbsp;EU will finance purchase of weapons for Ukraine amid Russian invasion

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/eu-will-finance-purchase-of-weapons-for-ukraine-amid-russian-invasion-457236/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Citing U.N. estimates, Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said four million Ukrainians are expected to flee the country as refugees.

With men of conscription age prevented from leaving Ukraine, mostly women and children are arriving at the border in eastern Poland, Slovakia and Hungary and in northern and northeastern Romania.

The European Union is preparing to grant Ukrainians who flee the war the right to stay and work in the 27-nation bloc for up to three years, senior EU and French officials said.

The European Union is preparing to grant Ukrainians who flee the war the right to stay and work in the 27-nation bloc for up to three years, senior EU and French officials said. At least 300,000 Ukrainian refugees have entered the EU so far, and the bloc needs to prepare for millions more, they said. EU members Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary have land borders with Ukraine. "It is our duty to take in those who flee war," French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France 2 TV on Monday, saying EU interior minister had on Sunday tasked the European Commission with preparing draft proposals to grant them protection. Also read | Zelensky sceptical, but says will 'try' dialogue with Russia Ministers will meet again on Thursday to agree on the details. The EU temporary protection directive, drawn up after the 1990s war in the Balkans, but never used so far, provides for the same level of protection, for one to three years, in all EU states, including a residence permit, access to employment, social welfare and medical treatment. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said most ministers had brought their support to the move on Sunday, with just some questioning if now was the time to do it or if it was best to wait a bit. The issue, she said, concerns all of the EU. Also read | Kyiv mayor proud of citizens' spirit, anxious about future "We already see a lot of Ukrainians leaving the countries of first entry and go to other member states, especially those that have a big Ukrainian population already," she told a news conference on Sunday. "Poland is one of them but also Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic." "All EU member states are prepared to accept refugees from Ukraine," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said. "This is a strong response by Europe to the terrible suffering that Putin inflicts with his criminal war of aggression: Together, we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine." Watch | EU will finance purchase of weapons for Ukraine amid Russian invasion Citing U.N. estimates, Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said four million Ukrainians are expected to flee the country as refugees. With men of conscription age prevented from leaving Ukraine, mostly women and children are arriving at the border in eastern Poland, Slovakia and Hungary and in northern and northeastern Romania.

EU plans to grant Ukrainians right to stay for up to 3 years

After leaving Afghanistan a year ago, Ajmal Rahmani believed he had found a haven of peace in Ukraine.

This week, he and his family had to flee again -- this time to Poland to the sounds of Russian bombs.

"I run from one war, come to another country and another war starts. Very bad luck," Rahmani told AFP shortly after crossing into Poland.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/worlds-biggest-plane-mriya-destroyed-by-russia-near-kyiv-457293">World's biggest plane 'Mriya' destroyed by Russia near Kyiv</a>

His seven-year-old daughter Marwa clutched a beige-coloured soft toy dog as Rahmani spoke.

Together with Marwa, his wife Mina and son Omar, 11, the family walked the last 30 kilometres (19 miles) to the crossing on foot because of the gridlock on the Ukrainian side of the border.

After arriving at the Medyka on the Polish side, the family waited with other refugees for a bus that will take them to the nearby city of Przemysl.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled during the four days of conflict into neighbouring countries, mainly Poland, Hungary and Romania.

While most of the refugees are Ukrainian, among them are also students and migrant workers from further afield, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India and Nepal.

Also read |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/for-ukraines-refugees-europe-opens-doors-that-were-shut-to-others-456918">&nbsp;For Ukraine’s refugees, Europe opens doors that were shut to others</a>

I lost everything

Rahmani, who is in his 40s, said he worked for NATO in Afghanistan for 18 years at Kabul airport.

He decided to leave the country four months before the US withdrawal because he received threats and was so scared he kept his children out of school.

Before that "I had a good life in Afghanistan, I had a private house, I had a private car, I had a good salary," said Rahmani.

"I sold my car, my house, my everything. I lost everything," he said.&nbsp;

But he added: "nothing is better than my love, than my family life".

Rahmani said he struggled to get a visa to leave Afghanistan and decided to go to Ukraine because it was the only country that would take him in.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/a-new-refugee-crisis-as-russia-attacks-ukraine-thousands-flee-the-chaos-456411">A new 'refugee crisis': As Russia attacks Ukraine, thousands flee the chaos</a>

They set up home in Odessa -- a Black Sea port city.

Four days ago, when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, they had to leave everything again and travelled the 1,110 kilometres to the border.

Polish authorities said nearly 213,000 people have crossed into Poland from Ukraine since Thursday.

Rahmani and his family, like others without a Polish visa, now have 15 days to get registered, said Tomasz Pietrzak, a lawyer with the Ocalenie (Salvation) Foundation, a charity for migrants.

The timeline is unlikely given the numbers.

"Poland will have to very quickly amend its legislation on this issue," he said.

Watch |&nbsp;UN Refugee Agency: At least 150,000 people flee Ukraine to neighboring countries

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/un-refugee-agency-at-least-150000-people-flee-ukraine-to-neighboring-countries-457003/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Rahmani said he was concerned about the future but was encouraged by the warm welcome he received from volunteers and officials assisting the stream of refugees on the Polish side of the border.

"They gave us energy," he said

After leaving Afghanistan a year ago, Ajmal Rahmani believed he had found a haven of peace in Ukraine. This week, he and his family had to flee again -- this time to Poland to the sounds of Russian bombs.

After leaving Afghanistan a year ago, Ajmal Rahmani believed he had found a haven of peace in Ukraine. This week, he and his family had to flee again -- this time to Poland to the sounds of Russian bombs. "I run from one war, come to another country and another war starts. Very bad luck," Rahmani told AFP shortly after crossing into Poland. Also read | World's biggest plane 'Mriya' destroyed by Russia near Kyiv His seven-year-old daughter Marwa clutched a beige-coloured soft toy dog as Rahmani spoke. Together with Marwa, his wife Mina and son Omar, 11, the family walked the last 30 kilometres (19 miles) to the crossing on foot because of the gridlock on the Ukrainian side of the border. After arriving at the Medyka on the Polish side, the family waited with other refugees for a bus that will take them to the nearby city of Przemysl. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled during the four days of conflict into neighbouring countries, mainly Poland, Hungary and Romania. While most of the refugees are Ukrainian, among them are also students and migrant workers from further afield, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India and Nepal. Also read | For Ukraine’s refugees, Europe opens doors that were shut to others I lost everything Rahmani, who is in his 40s, said he worked for NATO in Afghanistan for 18 years at Kabul airport. He decided to leave the country four months before the US withdrawal because he received threats and was so scared he kept his children out of school. Before that "I had a good life in Afghanistan, I had a private house, I had a private car, I had a good salary," said Rahmani. "I sold my car, my house, my everything. I lost everything," he said. But he added: "nothing is better than my love, than my family life". Rahmani said he struggled to get a visa to leave Afghanistan and decided to go to Ukraine because it was the only country that would take him in. Also read | A new 'refugee crisis': As Russia attacks Ukraine, thousands flee the chaos They set up home in Odessa -- a Black Sea port city. Four days ago, when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, they had to leave everything again and travelled the 1,110 kilometres to the border. Polish authorities said nearly 213,000 people have crossed into Poland from Ukraine since Thursday. Rahmani and his family, like others without a Polish visa, now have 15 days to get registered, said Tomasz Pietrzak, a lawyer with the Ocalenie (Salvation) Foundation, a charity for migrants. The timeline is unlikely given the numbers. "Poland will have to very quickly amend its legislation on this issue," he said. Watch | UN Refugee Agency: At least 150,000 people flee Ukraine to neighboring countries Rahmani said he was concerned about the future but was encouraged by the warm welcome he received from volunteers and officials assisting the stream of refugees on the Polish side of the border. "They gave us energy," he said

'Another war': Afghan forced to flee again

In a significant move, Poland has announced that no visa will be required for Indian nationals crossing into the country from war-torn Ukraine. In a tweet, Polish envoy Adam Burakowski said, "Poland is allowing to enter without any visa all Indian students who escape from Russian aggression in Ukraine.".

A number of Indian nationals have reached the Poland-Ukraine border and have been advised by the Indian mission in Warsaw to make for the Shehyni Medyka border crossing.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/poland-envoy-speaks-to-wion-poland-will-help-in-evacuating-indians-stranded-in-ukraine-456852/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The Polish government is allowing people to cross that border on foot. The Krakowiec border crossing is for persons travelling in their own vehicles.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/war-in-ukraine-polands-envoy-adam-burakowski-assures-full-support-to-india-on-evacuation-plans-456882" hreflang="en">Poland's envoy Burakowski assures full support to India on evacuation plans</a>

In an exclusive conversation with Wion on Saturday, Envoy Adam said, " I can assure you that Polish authorities are fully cooperating with India", explaining, "Poland and other countries which border Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania are providing help."

Around 15000 Indian nationals mostly medical students are in Ukraine. Indian governent has launched operation Ganga for the evacuation of Indian nationals. The Ministry of external affairs has sent teams to border areas of Romania, Poland, and Hungary for evacuation of Indian nationals crossing over from Ukraine.

&nbsp;

In a significant move, Poland has announced that no visa will be required for Indian nationals crossing into the country from war-torn Ukraine. In a tweet, Polish envoy Adam Burakowski said, "Poland is allowing to enter without any visa all Indian students who escape from Russian aggression in Ukraine.

In a significant move, Poland has announced that no visa will be required for Indian nationals crossing into the country from war-torn Ukraine. In a tweet, Polish envoy Adam Burakowski said, "Poland is allowing to enter without any visa all Indian students who escape from Russian aggression in Ukraine.". A number of Indian nationals have reached the Poland-Ukraine border and have been advised by the Indian mission in Warsaw to make for the Shehyni Medyka border crossing. The Polish government is allowing people to cross that border on foot. The Krakowiec border crossing is for persons travelling in their own vehicles. Also read | Poland's envoy Burakowski assures full support to India on evacuation plans In an exclusive conversation with Wion on Saturday, Envoy Adam said, " I can assure you that Polish authorities are fully cooperating with India", explaining, "Poland and other countries which border Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania are providing help." Around 15000 Indian nationals mostly medical students are in Ukraine. Indian governent has launched operation Ganga for the evacuation of Indian nationals. The Ministry of external affairs has sent teams to border areas of Romania, Poland, and Hungary for evacuation of Indian nationals crossing over from Ukraine.

War in Ukraine: Poland says no visa required for Indians crossing border

WION's Sidhant Sibal spoke to Poland's envoy on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Poland will help in evacuating Indians stranded in Ukraine.

Poland envoy speaks to WION: Poland will help in evacuating Indians stranded in Ukraine

Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski on Saturday backed the Polish FA's decision to not play their 2022 FIFA World Cup play-off with Russia in Moscow on March 24.

The winners of Poland vs Russia are due to play Sweden or Czech Republic for a place in the finals.

Cezary Kulesz, the president of the Polish football federation said on Twitter: "No more words, it's time to act. Due to the escalation of the aggression of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine, the Polish national team does not intend to play the play-off match against Russia."

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/poland-will-not-play-world-cup-qualifying-match-against-russia-says-polish-fa-head-cezary-kulesza-456742">Poland will not play World Cup qualifying match against Russia, says Polish FA head Cezary Kulesza</a>

To which Poland men's football team captain replied: "It is the right decision! I can't imagine playing a match with the Russian National Team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues. Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can't pretend that nothing is happening."

On Friday, the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) urged all International Sports Federations to relocate or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus.

IOC said that they should take the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian and Belarussian governments into account and give the safety and security of the athletes an absolute priority.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ukraines-ruslan-malinovskyi-does-no-war-celebration-after-scoring-for-atalanta-in-europa-league-watch-456484">Ukraine's Ruslan Malinovskyi does 'no war' celebration after scoring for Atalanta in Europa League - WATCH</a>

The IOC itself has no events planned in Russia or Belarus.UEFA has already shifted the men's Champions League final venue from Russia to France and Formula 1 cancelled the Russian Grand Prix amid the Ukraine crisis.

Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski on Saturday backed the Polish FA's decision to not play their 2022 FIFA World Cup play-off with Russia in Moscow on March 24.

Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski on Saturday backed the Polish FA's decision to not play their 2022 FIFA World Cup play-off with Russia in Moscow on March 24. The winners of Poland vs Russia are due to play Sweden or Czech Republic for a place in the finals. Cezary Kulesz, the president of the Polish football federation said on Twitter: "No more words, it's time to act. Due to the escalation of the aggression of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine, the Polish national team does not intend to play the play-off match against Russia." ALSO READ: Poland will not play World Cup qualifying match against Russia, says Polish FA head Cezary Kulesza To which Poland men's football team captain replied: "It is the right decision! I can't imagine playing a match with the Russian National Team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues. Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can't pretend that nothing is happening." On Friday, the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) urged all International Sports Federations to relocate or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus. IOC said that they should take the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian and Belarussian governments into account and give the safety and security of the athletes an absolute priority. ALSO READ: Ukraine's Ruslan Malinovskyi does 'no war' celebration after scoring for Atalanta in Europa League - WATCH The IOC itself has no events planned in Russia or Belarus.UEFA has already shifted the men's Champions League final venue from Russia to France and Formula 1 cancelled the Russian Grand Prix amid the Ukraine crisis.

'Right decision': Robert Lewandowski on Poland's decision to not play World Cup qualifier with Russia

Poland will not play a World Cup qualifying soccer match against Russia next month because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the president of Poland's Football Association, Cezary Kulesza, said on Saturday.

Kulesza said the association was in talks with its Swedish and Czech counterparts regarding playoff matches set for March to fill a slot for the World Cup.

"In light of the escalation of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, the Polish national team is not going to play a match against Russian Republic," Kulesza said on Twitter.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/manchester-united-withdraws-russian-airline-aeroflots-sponsorship-amid-ukraine-crisis-456709">Manchester United withdraws Russian airline Aeroflot's sponsorship amid Ukraine crisis</a>

"This is the only right decision. We are in talks with Swedish and Czech association to present a common position to FIFA."

Russia is due to host Poland in the semi-finals of its strand of the World Cup playoffs on March 24 and, if its team advances, is scheduled to host either Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29 in the Path B final.

Poland will not play a World Cup qualifying soccer match against Russia next month because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the president of Poland's Football Association, Cezary Kulesza, said on Saturday.

Poland will not play a World Cup qualifying soccer match against Russia next month because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the president of Poland's Football Association, Cezary Kulesza, said on Saturday. Kulesza said the association was in talks with its Swedish and Czech counterparts regarding playoff matches set for March to fill a slot for the World Cup. "In light of the escalation of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, the Polish national team is not going to play a match against Russian Republic," Kulesza said on Twitter. ALSO READ: Manchester United withdraws Russian airline Aeroflot's sponsorship amid Ukraine crisis "This is the only right decision. We are in talks with Swedish and Czech association to present a common position to FIFA." Russia is due to host Poland in the semi-finals of its strand of the World Cup playoffs on March 24 and, if its team advances, is scheduled to host either Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29 in the Path B final.

Poland will not play World Cup qualifying match against Russia, says Polish FA head Cezary Kulesza

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda. The leaders expressed their strongest condemnation of the decision by the Russian Federation to recognise the so-called “DPR” and “LPR”.

Ukrainian President Zelensky holds joint presser with Polish and Lithuanian counterparts

The US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin is in Warsaw to talk about bilateral defense cooperation and security relations with Poland's Ministry of National Defense.

Will continue to defend our eastern flank, says US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz sees India's role positive amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis without taking Moscow's name said, " You have relatively good relations with those countries, as I said, there is a possibility of involvement of India in diplomacy". West is worried over a Russian invasion of Ukraine something that Moscow has been dismissing. Speaking to our diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal from Warsaw, Minister Przydacz, "India is one of the most important actors in the international scene, the biggest democracy". On Poland hosting Ukrainian refugees, minister pointed, "Poland as the neighboring country need to be ready to host possible refugees. As always, we are ready to help those who are in need but hopefully it won't happen." Poland shares border with Ukraine and also Russian territory of Kaliningrad. On Taiwan he said, while his country "sticks to one china policy" at "economical level, we are ready to cooperate with Taipei"

Poland Minister Przydacz sees India's "positive" role amid Ukraine-Russia crisis

Hungary and Poland have lost EU funding fight over laws after the top court dismissed challenges. EU can stop aid to Poland and Hungary.

Hungary and Poland lose EU funding fight over laws as top court dismisses challenges

Europe’s top court ruled Wednesday that the European Union can withhold funding from member countries failing to uphold the rule of law, arming the bloc to step up its efforts to defend its core values.

The ruling shoots down a lawsuit by Hungary and Poland, the two countries most directly and immediately affected, whose governments the European Union has been increasingly at odds with, and opens a new chapter in the dispute that could see the countries losing out on tens of billions of euros in aid.

The European Court of Justice ruling, which is final, provides ample legal and political cover to the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, to flex its muscle and withhold vital aid to the two countries over what it has long seen as a pernicious and deliberate illiberal drift away from EU standards.

The timing of the ruling makes the court’s decision politically explosive. Hungary’s national elections are just weeks away, and the European Union is trying to close ranks in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine, a major threat of war at its eastern borders, even though any actual funding cuts could be months away.

The court had been called upon to rule whether a European Commission mechanism that would tie disbursing funds from its budget to the condition that a recipient member state is upholding standards such as judicial independence and transparent fund expenditure, had a sound legal basis. The ruling cannot be appealed, but member states will be able to appeal a possible decision to have funds withheld, when and if that comes about.

The decision was welcomed by a chorus of European actors across the political spectrum, in a rare show of unity. Similarly, several EU members, often at odds over difficult political issues and reluctant to pick sides against one another, said the ruling was a positive development, highlighting the growing isolation of Hungary and Poland.

In a tweet, the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said the rule of law is the foundation of the European Union. “Violations not only cost our credibility, but our cohesion,” she added.

In Budapest, shortly after Hungary and Poland’s challenge was dismissed, Judit Varga, Orban’s justice minister, accused the high court of rendering a “political judgment.”

Zbigniew Ziobro, Poland’s justice minister, said on Twitter that Wednesday was “a grim date that will be noted in history books.” Ziobro, the leader of Poland’s far-right junior coalition partner, added that the mechanism was introduced to “blackmail member countries financially,” to “rebuild the European Union into a federal state, which excludes the existence of national states.”

For Poland, the biggest recipient of EU money, and Hungary, where the population is overwhelmingly pro-European Union, the ruling bites in both real and symbolic ways.

“The power of the EU is where the money is. And attaching some rule-of-law conditionality to EU funds is a very concrete way of making sure that the EU does not send money to the countries that actively promote rule of law breaches and destroy democracy, because otherwise, the EU is also supporting these kinds of policies,” said Sophie Pornschlegel, a senior policy analyst at the Brussels-based European Policy Center.

In the 2014-2020 EU budget, Poland received more funds than any of the 28 member states (Britain left the EU in 2020 and the bloc now has 27 members), with 104 billion euros — or $118 billion — in aid in total. Hungary, a much smaller country, got 40 billion euros, or $45 billion. The two would be eligible for even larger amounts in the five-year budget that ends in 2027.

Separately, the commission has frozen access for both nations to a special EU post-COVID stimulus package over concerns about corruption and the independence of the judiciary.

The use of this mechanism is the latest in a series of legal and political battles over what EU officials see as a deliberate attempt by the government of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, to capture the state apparatus and funding to benefit himself and his allies. Poland’s case is quite different, but it is also in conflict with the EU over the government’s moves to control the judiciary and dismantle its independent function.

The ruling on Wednesday introduces real-world risks to Orban at a precarious time. He faces his stiffest challenge from a six-party coalition in Hungary’s national elections on April 3, and Hungary’s ability to draw on EU funding has significant implications for the country’s economic outlook.

Losing out on EU money is a touchy subject for Orban, whose stewardship of Hungary since 2010 has produced dramatic qualitative declines in assessments of Hungarian democracy, rule of law, press freedom and corruption.

“They are waging a holy war, a rule-of-law jihad,” he said Saturday in an address to the nation. “And words, my friends, rarely help in the face of jihad. We must show strength! Let the Reconquista begin!”

Ever since joining the EU in 2004, Hungary has been the beneficiary of generous subsidies to help its economy close the gap with wealthier Western neighbors. But critics have long argued that since Orban returned to power in 2010, these funds have been used to underwrite his quest to transform Hungary into what he has proudly called an “illiberal state.”

While the Hungarian premier has used a vast propaganda machine to shield Hungarians from the nuances of his conflicts with the EU, the strategy highlights a peculiar domestic constraint. “The Hungarian electorate is extremely supportive of EU membership," said Balint Ruff, a Hungarian political strategist. “It’s at nearly an all-time high.”

Laurent Pech, professor of European law at Middlesex University in London, said, “there is more awareness of industrial-scale corruption, and it has become much more costly for European actors to ignore corruption in Hungary.”

“It would be easier for the commission to start with Hungary,” he added, calling it “a more clear-cut case.”

Poland, which wants European support as the risk of Russian aggression grows, is less clear cut, experts note, and the Ukraine crisis could take the edge off the ruling.

“The Ukraine crisis is already taking attention away from this, and there will be a very strong push to stand united if the situation with Ukraine escalates,” said Daniel Freund, a German member of the European Parliament with the Greens.

Freund said he also worried that the commission would try to find ways to blunt the impact of the ruling, to shield itself from accusations that it is interfering politically in Hungary’s elections.

Any real impact on funding on the grounds of this decision would be months down the line, he said, so it was imperative that the commission took the first step to trigger the process as soon as possible after the court ruling.

“If I have to make a bet right now, I would fear that not much will happen before the Hungarian election,” he said, which is what Orban wanted all along, “so that he can be reelected without anyone saying anything bad.”

Europe’s top court ruled Wednesday that the European Union can withhold funding from member countries failing to uphold the rule of law, arming the bloc to step up its efforts to defend its core values.

Europe’s top court ruled Wednesday that the European Union can withhold funding from member countries failing to uphold the rule of law, arming the bloc to step up its efforts to defend its core values. The ruling shoots down a lawsuit by Hungary and Poland, the two countries most directly and immediately affected, whose governments the European Union has been increasingly at odds with, and opens a new chapter in the dispute that could see the countries losing out on tens of billions of euros in aid. The European Court of Justice ruling, which is final, provides ample legal and political cover to the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, to flex its muscle and withhold vital aid to the two countries over what it has long seen as a pernicious and deliberate illiberal drift away from EU standards. The timing of the ruling makes the court’s decision politically explosive. Hungary’s national elections are just weeks away, and the European Union is trying to close ranks in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine, a major threat of war at its eastern borders, even though any actual funding cuts could be months away. The court had been called upon to rule whether a European Commission mechanism that would tie disbursing funds from its budget to the condition that a recipient member state is upholding standards such as judicial independence and transparent fund expenditure, had a sound legal basis. The ruling cannot be appealed, but member states will be able to appeal a possible decision to have funds withheld, when and if that comes about. The decision was welcomed by a chorus of European actors across the political spectrum, in a rare show of unity. Similarly, several EU members, often at odds over difficult political issues and reluctant to pick sides against one another, said the ruling was a positive development, highlighting the growing isolation of Hungary and Poland. In a tweet, the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said the rule of law is the foundation of the European Union. “Violations not only cost our credibility, but our cohesion,” she added. In Budapest, shortly after Hungary and Poland’s challenge was dismissed, Judit Varga, Orban’s justice minister, accused the high court of rendering a “political judgment.” Zbigniew Ziobro, Poland’s justice minister, said on Twitter that Wednesday was “a grim date that will be noted in history books.” Ziobro, the leader of Poland’s far-right junior coalition partner, added that the mechanism was introduced to “blackmail member countries financially,” to “rebuild the European Union into a federal state, which excludes the existence of national states.” For Poland, the biggest recipient of EU money, and Hungary, where the population is overwhelmingly pro-European Union, the ruling bites in both real and symbolic ways. “The power of the EU is where the money is. And attaching some rule-of-law conditionality to EU funds is a very concrete way of making sure that the EU does not send money to the countries that actively promote rule of law breaches and destroy democracy, because otherwise, the EU is also supporting these kinds of policies,” said Sophie Pornschlegel, a senior policy analyst at the Brussels-based European Policy Center. In the 2014-2020 EU budget, Poland received more funds than any of the 28 member states (Britain left the EU in 2020 and the bloc now has 27 members), with 104 billion euros — or $118 billion — in aid in total. Hungary, a much smaller country, got 40 billion euros, or $45 billion. The two would be eligible for even larger amounts in the five-year budget that ends in 2027. Separately, the commission has frozen access for both nations to a special EU post-COVID stimulus package over concerns about corruption and the independence of the judiciary. The use of this mechanism is the latest in a series of legal and political battles over what EU officials see as a deliberate attempt by the government of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, to capture the state apparatus and funding to benefit himself and his allies. Poland’s case is quite different, but it is also in conflict with the EU over the government’s moves to control the judiciary and dismantle its independent function. The ruling on Wednesday introduces real-world risks to Orban at a precarious time. He faces his stiffest challenge from a six-party coalition in Hungary’s national elections on April 3, and Hungary’s ability to draw on EU funding has significant implications for the country’s economic outlook. Losing out on EU money is a touchy subject for Orban, whose stewardship of Hungary since 2010 has produced dramatic qualitative declines in assessments of Hungarian democracy, rule of law, press freedom and corruption. “They are waging a holy war, a rule-of-law jihad,” he said Saturday in an address to the nation. “And words, my friends, rarely help in the face of jihad. We must show strength! Let the Reconquista begin!” Ever since joining the EU in 2004, Hungary has been the beneficiary of generous subsidies to help its economy close the gap with wealthier Western neighbors. But critics have long argued that since Orban returned to power in 2010, these funds have been used to underwrite his quest to transform Hungary into what he has proudly called an “illiberal state.” While the Hungarian premier has used a vast propaganda machine to shield Hungarians from the nuances of his conflicts with the EU, the strategy highlights a peculiar domestic constraint. “The Hungarian electorate is extremely supportive of EU membership," said Balint Ruff, a Hungarian political strategist. “It’s at nearly an all-time high.” Laurent Pech, professor of European law at Middlesex University in London, said, “there is more awareness of industrial-scale corruption, and it has become much more costly for European actors to ignore corruption in Hungary.” “It would be easier for the commission to start with Hungary,” he added, calling it “a more clear-cut case.” Poland, which wants European support as the risk of Russian aggression grows, is less clear cut, experts note, and the Ukraine crisis could take the edge off the ruling. “The Ukraine crisis is already taking attention away from this, and there will be a very strong push to stand united if the situation with Ukraine escalates,” said Daniel Freund, a German member of the European Parliament with the Greens. Freund said he also worried that the commission would try to find ways to blunt the impact of the ruling, to shield itself from accusations that it is interfering politically in Hungary’s elections. Any real impact on funding on the grounds of this decision would be months down the line, he said, so it was imperative that the commission took the first step to trigger the process as soon as possible after the court ruling. “If I have to make a bet right now, I would fear that not much will happen before the Hungarian election,” he said, which is what Orban wanted all along, “so that he can be reelected without anyone saying anything bad.”

Top European Court rules EU can freeze aid to Poland and Hungary

Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz sees India's role as positive amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis without taking Moscow's name and said, " You have relatively good relations with those countries. As I said, there is a possibility of India's involvement in diplomacy. "

The West is worried over a Russian invasion of Ukraine, something that Moscow has been dismissing. 
 
Speaking to WION's diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal from Warsaw, Minister Przydacz said, "India is one of the most important actors on the international scene and the biggest democracy."

On Poland's hosting of Ukrainian refugees, the minister pointed out, "Poland, as the neighbouring country, needs to be ready to host possible refugees. As always, we are ready to help those who are in need, but hopefully it won't happen."

Poland shares borders with Ukraine and also the Russian territory of Kaliningrad.

On Taiwan, he said, while his country "sticks to one China policy" at "economical level, we are ready to cooperate with Taipei."

Russia-Ukraine Crisis

Sidhant Sibal: How do you see the current situation in eastern Europe? The last few days have been dramatic. Your foreign minister was in Moscow. How do you assess the situation?

Marcin Przydacz: First of all, thank you very much for having me. It is very important for us, the Poles, to share our assessment and perspective with the Indian public.

Your country is a very important actor on the international scene, so it is of crucial importance for us to share our perspective and opinions with you. With regards to the current situation in the central and eastern regions, as you have probably seen, Russia is continuing its aggressive posturing and policy towards Ukraine and other countries in this region.

There are more than 100,000 troops deployed just next to the Ukrainian border, so there is a kind of pressure on the Ukrainian state. The expectation from the Russian side is to somehow stop the possible integration of Ukraine into the European Union and NATO.

With a pro-western orientation, Ukraine is one of the biggest countries of the post-soviet era, Russia is not happy with the fact that Ukraine is doing better and better with regards to cooperation with the west. The living standards of the country have not dropped but increased, and it could be a very bad example for the Russian government. One day, Russian public opinion may ask how it happened that the Ukrainian nation is doing better than the Russian one.&nbsp;

So, the Russian government is trying to build some kind of sphere of influence and to build, as he said, a Soviet empire. He once said the collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest tragedy of the 21st century, so his strategy is to rebuild, but unfortunately, it is at the cost of sovereign independent countries, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine.&nbsp;

We cannot allow that to happen. To rebuild the Soviet empire based on not very democratic rules. And Poland is very much in favour of peaceful cooperation and stability, and it should be up to the Ukrainian nation and society to decide what the future of their own country is. 
 
Sidhant Sibal: Do you think the war clouds have dissipated?

Marcin Przydacz: Rather than simply announcing the withdrawal of troops, we are very interested in the final decision.Once the troops are sent back home, we will welcome such a decision.

So far, we have not noticed the de-escalation, but rather the escalation. Even yesterday, a Ukrainian state organization and Ukraine's banking system were attacked in the sphere of cyber.

This aggressive behaviour by Russia is continuing rather than, as it is being said, de-escalation. We are very much in favour of de-escalation, waiting for a concrete decision rather than just talking. Diplomats are very much interested in discussing how to find a solution, but not at any cost. As diplomats, we cannot compromise on international regulation; we cannot compromise on a democratic, free world.We are ready to continue the dialogue. That is why Minister Rau, the Polish foreign affairs minister, yesterday paid a visit to Moscow to discuss a possible solution. We are the chairman of the OSCE, or Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, this year, so we do have some responsibility for European security; we are ready to discuss and talk with Russians, but the first decision we expect from our Russian neighbours is to withdraw troops from Ukraine's border and Belarus' territory.More than 30,000 Belarus troops are actively exercising on the territory of Belarus, just next to the Ukraine and Polish borders. This is pressure by the Russian state on the Ukrainian government, so that is why we had to ask our American allies to deploy NATO troops to Poland. That is why we are discussing possible sanctions on Russia in the event of further escalation. We need to be ready as the free world, democratic society, and community of the free world.&nbsp;

Sidhant Sibal: Poland fears an influx that could go up to 2-3 million. How is Poland geared up to tackle it?

Marcin Przydacz: We still do hope that the situation will be deescalated and that there will be no incursions, no Russian attacks on sovereign countries like Ukraine. We are doing our best to find a solution. We need to be prepared for a possible migration, a possible wave of refugees from Ukraine to Poland. We are trying to be ready, discussing it at a national level but also at an international level on how to deal with that. But so far, we should avoid panic inside the Ukrainian state, and that is also the decision of the Ukrainian government to stabilise the situation, not to panic. As far as I understand and as far as I know the Ukrainian people, they are ready to resist and defend their independence and sovereignty of their country, not thinking about fleeing the country. If this happens, Poland, as the neighbouring country, needs to be ready to host possible refugees. As always, we are ready to help those who are in need, but hopefully it won't happen.&nbsp;

Sidhant Sibal: On Russia's demand for demilitarisation of states like Poland and other eastern European countries

Marcin Przydacz: Let me remind you of the history of the last 20 years. It was not Poland or NATO countries attacking other countries. It was Russia dominating other countries. NATO is the defence ally. For example, Belarus, Recently, Russia deployed its troops, in Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. In 2008, Russia attacked the independent state of Georgia, capturing or taking some parts of the territory of this country. In 2014, Russia took Crimea and part of Donbas. We are very much concerned with this aggressive policy being conducted by the Russian government. That is why we are deploying as Nato troops on the territory of NATO countries. We are not interested in sending them anywhere else. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, that was the decision of our govts to invite more allies in order to continue the policy of deterrence. What we want to show is to deter Russia and to show them we are ready to defend our country and we are ready to deter this aggressive policy of Russia.&nbsp;&nbsp;

India

Sidhant Sibal: What role do you see for India in the crisis, in terms of pacifying the crisis?

Marcin Przydacz: As I said, India is one of the most important actors on the international scene and the biggest democracy. It also has the potential to have a positive impact and a positive influence on security architecture. Both of our countries stand to benefit greatly from the fact that this security architecture has helped to stabilise the global situation.Some countries, starting with Russia, are trying to challenge this architecture to change. These are authoritarian regimes. What we need to do, as democratic states, is to continue our cooperation and dialogue. As you have relatively good relations with those countries, as I said, there is a possibility of India's involvement in diplomacy. We are very much interested in continuing our dialogue. There is already talk of your officials paying a visit.

Three years ago, Minister Jaishankar was in Poland and also the situation in Eastern and Central Europe. Minister Rau was at the Raisina dialogue conference. I hope there will be a continuation of good talks, discussing how to deal with those threats and challenges based on international law and finding a way to coexist. &nbsp;

Sidhant Sibal: What are your thoughts on the India-Poland relationship?How do you characterise it?

Marcin Przydacz: I have to say, I welcome the current state of relations; they are developing well. Despite the pandemic, political contact remains good. It proves that our ties are close and there is still potential for further development. I hope more consultations will happen at a higher level. There are good foundations for ties. We still very much remember the fact that a very significant number of Polish migrants and refugees from Siberia during World War 2 were hosted by the Indian population and high officials. Several thousand Indian students in Poland have a significant Polish business community in your country. We need to bring back direct flights between Warsaw and New Delhi and Warsaw and Mumbai. As you know, a couple of years ago, we launched a new direct flight by LOT Polish Airlines, directly from Warsaw to Delhi, and I had the pleasure of opening this flight. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we had to stop this direct connection. I do really hope we bring it back in order to offer our citizens better people-to-people contact, because this is the most important thing in our country's relations. More Indian students and business people are very much welcomed in Poland, as well as the Polish business community, which will be welcomed in significant numbers in your country. Finally, in Poland, we are big fans of your movies and cinema industry. There have been several films shot in Poland, and we do hope this will be continued.&nbsp;

Sidhant Sibal: How do you see the cultural connection? Recently, a Polish national was honoured with the top Indian award, the Padma award.

Marcin Przydacz: As I said, Bollywood is very popular in Poland, and we do hope that we will find even more opportunities to explore this part of our relationship. You mentioned that the former envoy of Poland was granted a very important prize in India, an award in India. Academicians, politicians, or diplomats' work or jobs are very much acknowledged by the Indian government and Indian society. We need to find more opportunities in order to explore this part of our relationship. Poles are very much interested in Indian culture.

Belarus

Sidhant Sibal: How much is the worry over Belarus migrant issue for you? has it subsided or is still underway?

Marcin Przydacz: Well, you should not call it a crisis, it was the artificial crisis, very well planned by the authoritarian regime of Mr Lukashenko. He after elections, was sanctioned by the European Union and his answer, he said it publicly that he will create the refugee or the migration crisis that is why he encouraged many possible migrants from the middle east countries, from the Asian countries in order to come to Belarus and they were forcibly pushed to the border with Poland, Lithuania illegally in order to cross this border. Unfortunately, those people found themselves in a very difficult and dire situation. In winter they got stuck in a forest, legally on the territory of Belarus but basically being bullets in the hands of the authoritarian regime of Mr Lukashenko. This crisis is not over yet, hundreds of migrants in the hands of Lukashenko, waiting for the right moment to be pushed through the border. Let me also tell you, or the Indian society beware of the fact that being invited to Belarus means you can be used as a bullet in the hands of an authoritarian regime and pushed through the border. I know Belarus diplomats are very actively searching for new possibilities to bring innocent people to Belarus and then use them as political instruments against the EU, Poland. We would not like to have this with the friendly nation of India.&nbsp;

Indo-Pacific

Sidhant Sibal: How do you see the Polish role or policy on the Indo-Pacific, when countries like Germany and France have been taking a lead? 
 
Marcin Przydacz: Well, first of all after regaining full sovereignty and independence. After the collapse of the soviet union, we have joined NATO, EU and the natural environment for us was to be very concentrated on EU Affairs, transatlantic affairs. Now our economy is doing very well, we are in a much better position than 30 years ago. So, a lot of business people are interested in finding a place to invest in the Indo-pacific area. Our diplomats have been quite active in your region. We are reopening our embassies. In New Delhi, it was opened years ago but recently in several countries of your region we opened embassies. There is also room for better relations with countries of the Indo-Pacific. I know China is trying to challenge several things, in the Indo-Pacific area, we have been trying to be active as well to keep the stability through the instruments we have bilaterally. At the level of the EU we have the Indo-Pacific strategy, we as Poland are very active in this discussion. Asia is the continent of 21st century. Huge potential, Poland is trying to be active in every possible level--diplomatic, political, economic cooperation and cultural collaboration.&nbsp;

China

Sidhant Sibal: China has been aggressive in Indo Pacific; how do u see Chinese actions in the region?&nbsp;

Marcin Przydacz: We stick to the One China policy, as Poland and there are a lot of challenges with regards to China but what is crucial is to keep the dialogue discussing all those issues which are problematic, just like with others. We know that India is in very good contact with Moscow although we do not prescribe Moscow's behavior very constructive in our region, let me put that diplomatically. &nbsp;W eare also trying to be active in keeping the dialogue with Beijing. Our President visited China during the Olympics, to encourage our sportsmen mostly but on the margin, he had a good and frank discussion with President Xi Jinping. So our relations with China are vivid and potential in economic cooperation but there are some issues which need to be discussed and solved and we as Poland are ready to be an active actor in regard to that.&nbsp;

Taiwan

Sidhant Sibal: Many in Europe, including your Neighbour Lithuania have upgraded ties with Taiwan. Do u plan a deeper engagement and upgradation with the country?

Marcin Przydacz: Well as I said we stick to the one China policy, but we can respect the decision of every sovereign country to have their own interest and own ideas to conduct foreign policy. It was the Lithuanian decision to follow those principles of their interest. But what I can say with regards to Taiwan, we are trying to find new possibilities on how to encourage our business people to cooperate with Taiwan. Taiwan is a big economy, there is potential at the economic level. Of Course at an economical level, we are ready to cooperate with Taipei.

Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz sees India's role as positive amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis without taking Moscow's name and said, " You have relatively good relations with those countries.

Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz sees India's role as positive amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis without taking Moscow's name and said, " You have relatively good relations with those countries. As I said, there is a possibility of India's involvement in diplomacy. " The West is worried over a Russian invasion of Ukraine, something that Moscow has been dismissing. Speaking to WION's diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal from Warsaw, Minister Przydacz said, "India is one of the most important actors on the international scene and the biggest democracy." On Poland's hosting of Ukrainian refugees, the minister pointed out, "Poland, as the neighbouring country, needs to be ready to host possible refugees. As always, we are ready to help those who are in need, but hopefully it won't happen." Poland shares borders with Ukraine and also the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. On Taiwan, he said, while his country "sticks to one China policy" at "economical level, we are ready to cooperate with Taipei." Russia-Ukraine Crisis Sidhant Sibal: How do you see the current situation in eastern Europe? The last few days have been dramatic. Your foreign minister was in Moscow. How do you assess the situation? Marcin Przydacz: First of all, thank you very much for having me. It is very important for us, the Poles, to share our assessment and perspective with the Indian public. Your country is a very important actor on the international scene, so it is of crucial importance for us to share our perspective and opinions with you. With regards to the current situation in the central and eastern regions, as you have probably seen, Russia is continuing its aggressive posturing and policy towards Ukraine and other countries in this region. There are more than 100,000 troops deployed just next to the Ukrainian border, so there is a kind of pressure on the Ukrainian state. The expectation from the Russian side is to somehow stop the possible integration of Ukraine into the European Union and NATO. With a pro-western orientation, Ukraine is one of the biggest countries of the post-soviet era, Russia is not happy with the fact that Ukraine is doing better and better with regards to cooperation with the west. The living standards of the country have not dropped but increased, and it could be a very bad example for the Russian government. One day, Russian public opinion may ask how it happened that the Ukrainian nation is doing better than the Russian one. So, the Russian government is trying to build some kind of sphere of influence and to build, as he said, a Soviet empire. He once said the collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest tragedy of the 21st century, so his strategy is to rebuild, but unfortunately, it is at the cost of sovereign independent countries, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine. We cannot allow that to happen. To rebuild the Soviet empire based on not very democratic rules. And Poland is very much in favour of peaceful cooperation and stability, and it should be up to the Ukrainian nation and society to decide what the future of their own country is. Sidhant Sibal: Do you think the war clouds have dissipated? Marcin Przydacz: Rather than simply announcing the withdrawal of troops, we are very interested in the final decision.Once the troops are sent back home, we will welcome such a decision. So far, we have not noticed the de-escalation, but rather the escalation. Even yesterday, a Ukrainian state organization and Ukraine's banking system were attacked in the sphere of cyber. This aggressive behaviour by Russia is continuing rather than, as it is being said, de-escalation. We are very much in favour of de-escalation, waiting for a concrete decision rather than just talking. Diplomats are very much interested in discussing how to find a solution, but not at any cost. As diplomats, we cannot compromise on international regulation; we cannot compromise on a democratic, free world.We are ready to continue the dialogue. That is why Minister Rau, the Polish foreign affairs minister, yesterday paid a visit to Moscow to discuss a possible solution. We are the chairman of the OSCE, or Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, this year, so we do have some responsibility for European security; we are ready to discuss and talk with Russians, but the first decision we expect from our Russian neighbours is to withdraw troops from Ukraine's border and Belarus' territory.More than 30,000 Belarus troops are actively exercising on the territory of Belarus, just next to the Ukraine and Polish borders. This is pressure by the Russian state on the Ukrainian government, so that is why we had to ask our American allies to deploy NATO troops to Poland. That is why we are discussing possible sanctions on Russia in the event of further escalation. We need to be ready as the free world, democratic society, and community of the free world. Sidhant Sibal: Poland fears an influx that could go up to 2-3 million. How is Poland geared up to tackle it? Marcin Przydacz: We still do hope that the situation will be deescalated and that there will be no incursions, no Russian attacks on sovereign countries like Ukraine. We are doing our best to find a solution. We need to be prepared for a possible migration, a possible wave of refugees from Ukraine to Poland. We are trying to be ready, discussing it at a national level but also at an international level on how to deal with that. But so far, we should avoid panic inside the Ukrainian state, and that is also the decision of the Ukrainian government to stabilise the situation, not to panic. As far as I understand and as far as I know the Ukrainian people, they are ready to resist and defend their independence and sovereignty of their country, not thinking about fleeing the country. If this happens, Poland, as the neighbouring country, needs to be ready to host possible refugees. As always, we are ready to help those who are in need, but hopefully it won't happen. Sidhant Sibal: On Russia's demand for demilitarisation of states like Poland and other eastern European countries Marcin Przydacz: Let me remind you of the history of the last 20 years. It was not Poland or NATO countries attacking other countries. It was Russia dominating other countries. NATO is the defence ally. For example, Belarus, Recently, Russia deployed its troops, in Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. In 2008, Russia attacked the independent state of Georgia, capturing or taking some parts of the territory of this country. In 2014, Russia took Crimea and part of Donbas. We are very much concerned with this aggressive policy being conducted by the Russian government. That is why we are deploying as Nato troops on the territory of NATO countries. We are not interested in sending them anywhere else. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, that was the decision of our govts to invite more allies in order to continue the policy of deterrence. What we want to show is to deter Russia and to show them we are ready to defend our country and we are ready to deter this aggressive policy of Russia. India Sidhant Sibal: What role do you see for India in the crisis, in terms of pacifying the crisis? Marcin Przydacz: As I said, India is one of the most important actors on the international scene and the biggest democracy. It also has the potential to have a positive impact and a positive influence on security architecture. Both of our countries stand to benefit greatly from the fact that this security architecture has helped to stabilise the global situation.Some countries, starting with Russia, are trying to challenge this architecture to change. These are authoritarian regimes. What we need to do, as democratic states, is to continue our cooperation and dialogue. As you have relatively good relations with those countries, as I said, there is a possibility of India's involvement in diplomacy. We are very much interested in continuing our dialogue. There is already talk of your officials paying a visit. Three years ago, Minister Jaishankar was in Poland and also the situation in Eastern and Central Europe. Minister Rau was at the Raisina dialogue conference. I hope there will be a continuation of good talks, discussing how to deal with those threats and challenges based on international law and finding a way to coexist. Sidhant Sibal: What are your thoughts on the India-Poland relationship?How do you characterise it? Marcin Przydacz: I have to say, I welcome the current state of relations; they are developing well. Despite the pandemic, political contact remains good. It proves that our ties are close and there is still potential for further development. I hope more consultations will happen at a higher level. There are good foundations for ties. We still very much remember the fact that a very significant number of Polish migrants and refugees from Siberia during World War 2 were hosted by the Indian population and high officials. Several thousand Indian students in Poland have a significant Polish business community in your country. We need to bring back direct flights between Warsaw and New Delhi and Warsaw and Mumbai. As you know, a couple of years ago, we launched a new direct flight by LOT Polish Airlines, directly from Warsaw to Delhi, and I had the pleasure of opening this flight. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we had to stop this direct connection. I do really hope we bring it back in order to offer our citizens better people-to-people contact, because this is the most important thing in our country's relations. More Indian students and business people are very much welcomed in Poland, as well as the Polish business community, which will be welcomed in significant numbers in your country. Finally, in Poland, we are big fans of your movies and cinema industry. There have been several films shot in Poland, and we do hope this will be continued. Sidhant Sibal: How do you see the cultural connection? Recently, a Polish national was honoured with the top Indian award, the Padma award. Marcin Przydacz: As I said, Bollywood is very popular in Poland, and we do hope that we will find even more opportunities to explore this part of our relationship. You mentioned that the former envoy of Poland was granted a very important prize in India, an award in India. Academicians, politicians, or diplomats' work or jobs are very much acknowledged by the Indian government and Indian society. We need to find more opportunities in order to explore this part of our relationship. Poles are very much interested in Indian culture. Belarus Sidhant Sibal: How much is the worry over Belarus migrant issue for you? has it subsided or is still underway? Marcin Przydacz: Well, you should not call it a crisis, it was the artificial crisis, very well planned by the authoritarian regime of Mr Lukashenko. He after elections, was sanctioned by the European Union and his answer, he said it publicly that he will create the refugee or the migration crisis that is why he encouraged many possible migrants from the middle east countries, from the Asian countries in order to come to Belarus and they were forcibly pushed to the border with Poland, Lithuania illegally in order to cross this border. Unfortunately, those people found themselves in a very difficult and dire situation. In winter they got stuck in a forest, legally on the territory of Belarus but basically being bullets in the hands of the authoritarian regime of Mr Lukashenko. This crisis is not over yet, hundreds of migrants in the hands of Lukashenko, waiting for the right moment to be pushed through the border. Let me also tell you, or the Indian society beware of the fact that being invited to Belarus means you can be used as a bullet in the hands of an authoritarian regime and pushed through the border. I know Belarus diplomats are very actively searching for new possibilities to bring innocent people to Belarus and then use them as political instruments against the EU, Poland. We would not like to have this with the friendly nation of India. Indo-Pacific Sidhant Sibal: How do you see the Polish role or policy on the Indo-Pacific, when countries like Germany and France have been taking a lead? Marcin Przydacz: Well, first of all after regaining full sovereignty and independence. After the collapse of the soviet union, we have joined NATO, EU and the natural environment for us was to be very concentrated on EU Affairs, transatlantic affairs. Now our economy is doing very well, we are in a much better position than 30 years ago. So, a lot of business people are interested in finding a place to invest in the Indo-pacific area. Our diplomats have been quite active in your region. We are reopening our embassies. In New Delhi, it was opened years ago but recently in several countries of your region we opened embassies. There is also room for better relations with countries of the Indo-Pacific. I know China is trying to challenge several things, in the Indo-Pacific area, we have been trying to be active as well to keep the stability through the instruments we have bilaterally. At the level of the EU we have the Indo-Pacific strategy, we as Poland are very active in this discussion. Asia is the continent of 21st century. Huge potential, Poland is trying to be active in every possible level--diplomatic, political, economic cooperation and cultural collaboration. China Sidhant Sibal: China has been aggressive in Indo Pacific; how do u see Chinese actions in the region? Marcin Przydacz: We stick to the One China policy, as Poland and there are a lot of challenges with regards to China but what is crucial is to keep the dialogue discussing all those issues which are problematic, just like with others. We know that India is in very good contact with Moscow although we do not prescribe Moscow's behavior very constructive in our region, let me put that diplomatically. W eare also trying to be active in keeping the dialogue with Beijing. Our President visited China during the Olympics, to encourage our sportsmen mostly but on the margin, he had a good and frank discussion with President Xi Jinping. So our relations with China are vivid and potential in economic cooperation but there are some issues which need to be discussed and solved and we as Poland are ready to be an active actor in regard to that. Taiwan Sidhant Sibal: Many in Europe, including your Neighbour Lithuania have upgraded ties with Taiwan. Do u plan a deeper engagement and upgradation with the country? Marcin Przydacz: Well as I said we stick to the one China policy, but we can respect the decision of every sovereign country to have their own interest and own ideas to conduct foreign policy. It was the Lithuanian decision to follow those principles of their interest. But what I can say with regards to Taiwan, we are trying to find new possibilities on how to encourage our business people to cooperate with Taiwan. Taiwan is a big economy, there is potential at the economic level. Of Course at an economical level, we are ready to cooperate with Taipei.

Poland's Minister Przydacz sees India's 'positive' role amid the Ukraine-Russia crisis

During the last few weeks, the West has been urging Russia to choose the path of diplomacy and not weapons, but since the US said that Russia is just days away from invading Ukraine, the threat has now come too close to home for NATO.

The UK raises alarm over Poland's security

A cross-country Darya Dolidovich skier has fled Belarus for Poland after being banned from competing at the Winter Olympics due to their political views.

Darya Dolidovich, Belarusian skier flees to Poland after being barred from Winter Olympics

European capitals are buzzing with diplomacy as leaders race against time to defuse the stand-off near Ukraine. France, Germany and Poland have pledged to avert war at a trilateral summit in Berlin. Palki Sharma gets you a round-up of diplomacy week in Europe.

Gravitas Ukraine Direct: European leaders pledge to avert war

The leaders of Germany, France and Poland on Tuesday urged Russia to pursue a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis during their meeting in Berlin. The joint request came after Germany, and France's leaders stepped up their diplomatic efforts amid rising tension between Russia and Ukraine in the last few days.

Ukraine Crisis: Leaders of Germany, France, Poland meet to prevent war in Europe

For several days now NATO has been trying to put up some kind of a united front but the question of course is how united is the NATO's military alliance exactly. There are cracks that are beginning to be very visible in the alliance as tensions continue to escalate along the eastern border with Ukraine, however, in focus particularly are the NATO members Poland and Hungary.

NATO's united front cracking under pressure? How united is NATO's military alliance?

The earth outside the tiny village of Treblinka, in eastern Poland, still bears traces of the death camp the Nazis built there in 1942. Close to 925,000 Jews were slaughtered at Treblinka, making it the second-largest Jewish killing field in the world after Auschwitz. On a sad, wet day in November, I wandered close to where Germans had burned the bodies of those murdered in the gas chambers nearby. At my feet on the damp ground, among the pebbles, I saw tiny white specks. They were small pieces of bones that still rise to the surface of the tainted earth of Treblinka after the rain.

The ashes there tell one of the many stories of the murdered Jews of Europe. But recently, Poland’s government has been working to redirect the narrative. That same day in November, I saw Magdalena Gawin, the Polish deputy minister of Culture and National Heritage at the time, speak at the Treblinka train station flanked by a Polish Army honor guard, a Roman Catholic bishop and other distinguished guests, including Yehoshua Ellis, an American-born rabbi. They were assembled in Treblinka, a couple of miles away from the former death camp of the same name, to unveil a monument honoring Jan Maletka, a 21-year-old Polish railroad worker. Mr. Maletka, Polish researchers say, was shot in 1942 by the Nazis for giving water to the Jews as they waited in locked cattle cars idling outside the camp.

At the ceremony that day, Ms. Gawin spoke of death and sacrifice. “It is estimated that 900,000 Jews died in Treblinka,” she said. “At the same time, we meet here to commemorate the death of one man, 900,000 Jews and one man.”

The scene that unfolded last November in Treblinka is one of the most vivid examples of a dangerous new threat that is spreading rapidly today in Eastern Europe: Holocaust distortion. A false equivalence of victimization is but one hallmark of the new Polish historical revisionism. Another hallmark is a state-sponsored effort that downplays antisemitic terror at the hands of the Poles, though such incidents are well documented in the historical record.

To better explain how this distortion works, consider this: Of the more than 900,000 Jews who arrived in Treblinka, fewer than 100 survived the war. Jewish survivor testimonies of Treblinka are harrowing: Many remembered extreme thirst; they also recalled groups of Polish railway workers and Polish youths who stood close to the cattle cars ready to hand over water — in exchange for gold or cash. In their oral histories and written accounts, survivors described how they were met not with compassion, but with greed: Jankiel Wiernik, a carpenter and cabinet maker, recalled how terribly hot the day he arrived in Treblinka was. From the train he saw Polish locals selling water to desperate Jews. Abram Jakub Krzepicki remembered that people in the wagon were dying of thirst. He described terrible scenes of Jews pleading with the workers, handing over fistfuls of money for a mere half cup of water.

None of this is to necessarily undermine the story of Jan Maletka and what is said to be the quiet act that cost his life. There are no eyewitnesses left, so we will never know whether Mr. Maletka acted out of empathy for the dying Jews or not. But this huge memorialization effort obscures the full story. It is essential to understand that Mr. Maletka’s actions occurred within the broader experience of exploitation and murder. To identify and shift focus to Mr. Maletka serves not only to elevate a heartwarming story about a young man but also to marginalize the hundreds of thousands of mostly unnamed Jewish victims. Indeed, the sign on the monument devotes equal spaces to the Polish railway worker and the Jews who perished in Treblinka.

Markers to Poles killed by Nazis for rescuing Jews have been proliferating in the Polish countryside for several years now. The effect of these memorials to Polish national virtue is a new historical narrative that depicts the rescue of the Jews as a default position of Polish society during the Holocaust. The Polish government denies it is engaging in Holocaust distortion, but these stone monuments play into a distortion of the historical narrative. In my work as a historian of the Holocaust, I have come to call these efforts “memory patches” — stories intended to paper over the tragic legacy in which some Poles denounced or turned over to the Gestapo Jewish fellow citizens who were seeking shelter in wartime Poland.

Take the testimony of Adam Starkopf, who escaped the Warsaw ghetto with his wife, Pela, and their young daughter. Mr. Starkopf described in his memoir “Will to Live” being woken in the night in the town of Sadowne, where the couple were hiding in plain sight because Mr. Starkopf looked “Aryan” enough to pass as a Pole. A group of Polish villagers, he wrote, invited him into their plan to hunt down, rob and then turn over to the Gestapo a group of Jews who had escaped from a cattle car. “Just think — all these Jews lying on the ground, ready for the taking! It’s a windfall!,” Mr. Starkopf recalled his neighbors saying to him. “We’ll take their clothes, clean out their pockets and on top of that we’ll get a reward from the Germans for bringing them in.” (Mr. Starkopf declined to participate.)

The Polish narrative of wartime heroism and valor is espoused by Poland’s nationalistic government, led by the right-wing Law and Justice Party. In 2019 Ms. Gawin initiated “Called by Name,” a program intended to commemorate Poles who died rescuing Jews. “Called by Name” lives under the auspices of the government-funded Pilecki Institute, itself dedicated to commemorating Poles “who were murdered for providing aid and assistance to Jews during the Second World War.” In the vicinity of Treblinka in the past several years, the Pilecki Institute has erected no fewer than 10 other monuments to celebrate brave Poles who died giving assistance to Jews.

As if to underscore how integrated the government is with this effort, Magdalena Gawin, the minister who oversaw the Treblinka memorial, is now the director of the Pilecki Institute. The institute’s former director, Wojciech Kozlowski, has denied that the institute’s work is politically driven. “We are not in any way interested in promulgating any sort of ‘alternative narrative’ or in pursuing any kind of political agenda,” he told The Times of Israel in 2020.

Poland’s efforts to reframe history reflect a trend proliferating in other European countries to obfuscate the history of the Holocaust. In France, the far right has made efforts to whitewash the record of the Vichy government, which collaborated with the Nazis. In Hungary and Croatia, local complicity and collaboration during the war is downplayed, shifting the blame for the Jewish catastrophe entirely onto the German occupiers. What makes the Polish example so distinctive is the apparent scale of state official involvement in redirecting the narrative.

In all these cases, pushing blame for the destruction of Jewish communities entirely onto Nazi occupiers obfuscates the larger context of Holocaust horror and the very real problems of collaboration, bystanderism and local antisemitism that helped run the machine of the Holocaust.

Indeed, in Poland some of the commemorative markers have even been erected in places such as the town of Sadowne, where Mr. Starkopf described listening to the sound of Jews “being dragged through the snow to barns and stables” after his conversation with his neighbors. Thus the marker serves to deflect attention from atrocities committed by locals and to reframe their role in history. This commemorative drive allows the nationalists to present themselves as primarily defenders of the idea of historical innocence of the nation.

To be sure, efforts to shift the historical narrative in Poland did not begin with the Law and Order Party. Older markers, some erected by municipalities and local organizations, can be found in the former Warsaw ghetto, in the Plaszow concentration camp (depicted in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List”) and near the site of the 1946 Kielce pogrom, where a Polish mob murdered scores of Jewish survivors who returned to the city after the war.

In the former Warsaw ghetto — where about 80,000 Jews died of starvation or disease and from which more than 300,000 were transported to their deaths at Treblinka — tourists encounter not only memorials to Jewish trauma but also a street named after a brave Polish woman who saved Jewish children. There is also a statue of a Polish underground courier who tried to alert the indifferent Western Allies to the continuing genocide and a marker commemorating an organization to save Jews and a roundabout bearing the name of the “Righteous Among the Nations,” to name but a few.

Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust archive and museum, has long honored righteous gentiles who saved or in some way protected Jews. Over 7,000 of those righteous gentiles were in Poland, more than in any other country. And Poland suffered greatly at the hands of the occupiers; in a population of 35 million, Nazis murdered an estimated 1.9 million non-Jewish Polish civilians. There is a way to honor them and to underscore how a population under siege can still act with valor. But that effort cannot come at the expense of remembering the Jewish victims of the war, a large majority of whom did not survive the era.

Poland’s Jewish population numbered well over three million before the war. At the end of the war, some 380,000 Polish Jews had survived, most of whom had fled in 1939 into the former Soviet Union. By 1950, only about 45,000 Jews were left living in Poland.

The current effort to erect dozens of monuments to Polish heroes in places of Jewish terror appears to be changing the teaching and understanding of history in Poland. Even Auschwitz, perhaps the most visible symbol of the genocide, has not been spared. According to a national poll published in 2020, nearly half of Poles today think that Auschwitz is most of all a place of Polish suffering. Thus Auschwitz — which is also a museum funded by the Polish government devoted to the memory of nearly one million Jews who lost their lives in the gas chambers of Birkenau — has emerged, to a certain extent, as a place of Polish suffering as much as a Jewish one.

As a historian, I myself have encountered this new and dangerous trend. In 2021 I was accused of slandering the memory of a long-deceased Polish village mayor. The claim was based on a footnote in “Night Without End,” a book that I co-edited. In the text, a Holocaust survivor is quoted recalling an incident in which the mayor of his village alerted the Nazis to the whereabouts of a group of Jews, resulting in their death. The mayor’s niece, assisted by an NGO that receives government funding, took us into Warsaw’s District Court to defend the name of her uncle. We were dismayed by the ruling, in which the judge, Ewa Jonczyk, asked us to apologize.

“We can assume that ascribing to Poles the crimes of the Holocaust committed by the Third Reich can be construed as harmful and detrimental to the sense of identity and of national pride,” the judge said last February. “Attributing to the Polish nation the responsibility for the Holocaust, for the killing of Jews during World War II and for the confiscation of their property touches upon the sphere of the national heritage and, consequently, as completely untrue and harmful, can significantly impact one’s feeling of own national dignity, destroying the justified — based on facts — belief that Poland was the victim of war operations initiated and conducted by the Germans.”

Fortunately the ruling was overturned, but the chill was felt among scholars inside and outside Poland.

It seemed to me that the real objective of the lawsuit was not to rescue a man’s name or alter his reputation, but to frighten scholars of the Holocaust, to instill Poland’s pervasive atmosphere of fear into an entire discipline and to make students and educators think twice before choosing topics that would challenge the government-sponsored version of history. The idea of a right to national pride, advanced in court, is an ambiguous and legally undefined sentiment that effectively means any member of the Polish nation has the right to sue historians whose findings offend them.

Meanwhile, Holocaust survivors are dying every day. There are few left to protest the new revisionism.

The assault on the value of Jewish survivor testimony and the legal attack on our knowledge of the past are signs that the memory of the Holocaust is under threat not only by the deaths of survivors, but also by the willful choices of the present generation. The more time distances us from the event, the more heated the exchanges become, and the more forceful the attacks on the memory of the Shoah.

The earth outside the tiny village of Treblinka, in eastern Poland, still bears traces of the death camp the Nazis built there in 1942. Close to 925,000 Jews were slaughtered at Treblinka, making it the second-largest Jewish killing field in the world after Auschwitz.

The earth outside the tiny village of Treblinka, in eastern Poland, still bears traces of the death camp the Nazis built there in 1942. Close to 925,000 Jews were slaughtered at Treblinka, making it the second-largest Jewish killing field in the world after Auschwitz. On a sad, wet day in November, I wandered close to where Germans had burned the bodies of those murdered in the gas chambers nearby. At my feet on the damp ground, among the pebbles, I saw tiny white specks. They were small pieces of bones that still rise to the surface of the tainted earth of Treblinka after the rain. The ashes there tell one of the many stories of the murdered Jews of Europe. But recently, Poland’s government has been working to redirect the narrative. That same day in November, I saw Magdalena Gawin, the Polish deputy minister of Culture and National Heritage at the time, speak at the Treblinka train station flanked by a Polish Army honor guard, a Roman Catholic bishop and other distinguished guests, including Yehoshua Ellis, an American-born rabbi. They were assembled in Treblinka, a couple of miles away from the former death camp of the same name, to unveil a monument honoring Jan Maletka, a 21-year-old Polish railroad worker. Mr. Maletka, Polish researchers say, was shot in 1942 by the Nazis for giving water to the Jews as they waited in locked cattle cars idling outside the camp. At the ceremony that day, Ms. Gawin spoke of death and sacrifice. “It is estimated that 900,000 Jews died in Treblinka,” she said. “At the same time, we meet here to commemorate the death of one man, 900,000 Jews and one man.” The scene that unfolded last November in Treblinka is one of the most vivid examples of a dangerous new threat that is spreading rapidly today in Eastern Europe: Holocaust distortion. A false equivalence of victimization is but one hallmark of the new Polish historical revisionism. Another hallmark is a state-sponsored effort that downplays antisemitic terror at the hands of the Poles, though such incidents are well documented in the historical record. To better explain how this distortion works, consider this: Of the more than 900,000 Jews who arrived in Treblinka, fewer than 100 survived the war. Jewish survivor testimonies of Treblinka are harrowing: Many remembered extreme thirst; they also recalled groups of Polish railway workers and Polish youths who stood close to the cattle cars ready to hand over water — in exchange for gold or cash. In their oral histories and written accounts, survivors described how they were met not with compassion, but with greed: Jankiel Wiernik, a carpenter and cabinet maker, recalled how terribly hot the day he arrived in Treblinka was. From the train he saw Polish locals selling water to desperate Jews. Abram Jakub Krzepicki remembered that people in the wagon were dying of thirst. He described terrible scenes of Jews pleading with the workers, handing over fistfuls of money for a mere half cup of water. None of this is to necessarily undermine the story of Jan Maletka and what is said to be the quiet act that cost his life. There are no eyewitnesses left, so we will never know whether Mr. Maletka acted out of empathy for the dying Jews or not. But this huge memorialization effort obscures the full story. It is essential to understand that Mr. Maletka’s actions occurred within the broader experience of exploitation and murder. To identify and shift focus to Mr. Maletka serves not only to elevate a heartwarming story about a young man but also to marginalize the hundreds of thousands of mostly unnamed Jewish victims. Indeed, the sign on the monument devotes equal spaces to the Polish railway worker and the Jews who perished in Treblinka. Markers to Poles killed by Nazis for rescuing Jews have been proliferating in the Polish countryside for several years now. The effect of these memorials to Polish national virtue is a new historical narrative that depicts the rescue of the Jews as a default position of Polish society during the Holocaust. The Polish government denies it is engaging in Holocaust distortion, but these stone monuments play into a distortion of the historical narrative. In my work as a historian of the Holocaust, I have come to call these efforts “memory patches” — stories intended to paper over the tragic legacy in which some Poles denounced or turned over to the Gestapo Jewish fellow citizens who were seeking shelter in wartime Poland. Take the testimony of Adam Starkopf, who escaped the Warsaw ghetto with his wife, Pela, and their young daughter. Mr. Starkopf described in his memoir “Will to Live” being woken in the night in the town of Sadowne, where the couple were hiding in plain sight because Mr. Starkopf looked “Aryan” enough to pass as a Pole. A group of Polish villagers, he wrote, invited him into their plan to hunt down, rob and then turn over to the Gestapo a group of Jews who had escaped from a cattle car. “Just think — all these Jews lying on the ground, ready for the taking! It’s a windfall!,” Mr. Starkopf recalled his neighbors saying to him. “We’ll take their clothes, clean out their pockets and on top of that we’ll get a reward from the Germans for bringing them in.” (Mr. Starkopf declined to participate.) The Polish narrative of wartime heroism and valor is espoused by Poland’s nationalistic government, led by the right-wing Law and Justice Party. In 2019 Ms. Gawin initiated “Called by Name,” a program intended to commemorate Poles who died rescuing Jews. “Called by Name” lives under the auspices of the government-funded Pilecki Institute, itself dedicated to commemorating Poles “who were murdered for providing aid and assistance to Jews during the Second World War.” In the vicinity of Treblinka in the past several years, the Pilecki Institute has erected no fewer than 10 other monuments to celebrate brave Poles who died giving assistance to Jews. As if to underscore how integrated the government is with this effort, Magdalena Gawin, the minister who oversaw the Treblinka memorial, is now the director of the Pilecki Institute. The institute’s former director, Wojciech Kozlowski, has denied that the institute’s work is politically driven. “We are not in any way interested in promulgating any sort of ‘alternative narrative’ or in pursuing any kind of political agenda,” he told The Times of Israel in 2020. Poland’s efforts to reframe history reflect a trend proliferating in other European countries to obfuscate the history of the Holocaust. In France, the far right has made efforts to whitewash the record of the Vichy government, which collaborated with the Nazis. In Hungary and Croatia, local complicity and collaboration during the war is downplayed, shifting the blame for the Jewish catastrophe entirely onto the German occupiers. What makes the Polish example so distinctive is the apparent scale of state official involvement in redirecting the narrative. In all these cases, pushing blame for the destruction of Jewish communities entirely onto Nazi occupiers obfuscates the larger context of Holocaust horror and the very real problems of collaboration, bystanderism and local antisemitism that helped run the machine of the Holocaust. Indeed, in Poland some of the commemorative markers have even been erected in places such as the town of Sadowne, where Mr. Starkopf described listening to the sound of Jews “being dragged through the snow to barns and stables” after his conversation with his neighbors. Thus the marker serves to deflect attention from atrocities committed by locals and to reframe their role in history. This commemorative drive allows the nationalists to present themselves as primarily defenders of the idea of historical innocence of the nation. To be sure, efforts to shift the historical narrative in Poland did not begin with the Law and Order Party. Older markers, some erected by municipalities and local organizations, can be found in the former Warsaw ghetto, in the Plaszow concentration camp (depicted in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List”) and near the site of the 1946 Kielce pogrom, where a Polish mob murdered scores of Jewish survivors who returned to the city after the war. In the former Warsaw ghetto — where about 80,000 Jews died of starvation or disease and from which more than 300,000 were transported to their deaths at Treblinka — tourists encounter not only memorials to Jewish trauma but also a street named after a brave Polish woman who saved Jewish children. There is also a statue of a Polish underground courier who tried to alert the indifferent Western Allies to the continuing genocide and a marker commemorating an organization to save Jews and a roundabout bearing the name of the “Righteous Among the Nations,” to name but a few. Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust archive and museum, has long honored righteous gentiles who saved or in some way protected Jews. Over 7,000 of those righteous gentiles were in Poland, more than in any other country. And Poland suffered greatly at the hands of the occupiers; in a population of 35 million, Nazis murdered an estimated 1.9 million non-Jewish Polish civilians. There is a way to honor them and to underscore how a population under siege can still act with valor. But that effort cannot come at the expense of remembering the Jewish victims of the war, a large majority of whom did not survive the era. Poland’s Jewish population numbered well over three million before the war. At the end of the war, some 380,000 Polish Jews had survived, most of whom had fled in 1939 into the former Soviet Union. By 1950, only about 45,000 Jews were left living in Poland. The current effort to erect dozens of monuments to Polish heroes in places of Jewish terror appears to be changing the teaching and understanding of history in Poland. Even Auschwitz, perhaps the most visible symbol of the genocide, has not been spared. According to a national poll published in 2020, nearly half of Poles today think that Auschwitz is most of all a place of Polish suffering. Thus Auschwitz — which is also a museum funded by the Polish government devoted to the memory of nearly one million Jews who lost their lives in the gas chambers of Birkenau — has emerged, to a certain extent, as a place of Polish suffering as much as a Jewish one. As a historian, I myself have encountered this new and dangerous trend. In 2021 I was accused of slandering the memory of a long-deceased Polish village mayor. The claim was based on a footnote in “Night Without End,” a book that I co-edited. In the text, a Holocaust survivor is quoted recalling an incident in which the mayor of his village alerted the Nazis to the whereabouts of a group of Jews, resulting in their death. The mayor’s niece, assisted by an NGO that receives government funding, took us into Warsaw’s District Court to defend the name of her uncle. We were dismayed by the ruling, in which the judge, Ewa Jonczyk, asked us to apologize. “We can assume that ascribing to Poles the crimes of the Holocaust committed by the Third Reich can be construed as harmful and detrimental to the sense of identity and of national pride,” the judge said last February. “Attributing to the Polish nation the responsibility for the Holocaust, for the killing of Jews during World War II and for the confiscation of their property touches upon the sphere of the national heritage and, consequently, as completely untrue and harmful, can significantly impact one’s feeling of own national dignity, destroying the justified — based on facts — belief that Poland was the victim of war operations initiated and conducted by the Germans.” Fortunately the ruling was overturned, but the chill was felt among scholars inside and outside Poland. It seemed to me that the real objective of the lawsuit was not to rescue a man’s name or alter his reputation, but to frighten scholars of the Holocaust, to instill Poland’s pervasive atmosphere of fear into an entire discipline and to make students and educators think twice before choosing topics that would challenge the government-sponsored version of history. The idea of a right to national pride, advanced in court, is an ambiguous and legally undefined sentiment that effectively means any member of the Polish nation has the right to sue historians whose findings offend them. Meanwhile, Holocaust survivors are dying every day. There are few left to protest the new revisionism. The assault on the value of Jewish survivor testimony and the legal attack on our knowledge of the past are signs that the memory of the Holocaust is under threat not only by the deaths of survivors, but also by the willful choices of the present generation. The more time distances us from the event, the more heated the exchanges become, and the more forceful the attacks on the memory of the Shoah.

Poland is distorting how we remember the Holocaust

Witness border walls looking to curtail asylum seekers’ entry

Europe faces gas crisis even when the peak winter is about to hit the continent. The Yamal Europe pipeline was sending the fuel back to Poland for the 8th straight day. Watch this report for more.

Europe faces gas crisis even as peak winter is about to hit continent

Poland's President Andrzej Duda announced his decision to veto a controversial media bill which aims to strictly regulate US own news channel TVN24.

Poland President Andrzej Duda vetoes media bill, seeks to calm US fears

Poland has accused Germany of turning the European Union (EU) into a federal "Fourth Reich".

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Poland's deputy prime minister and the head of the country's ruling party, ''If we Poles agreed with this kind of modern-day submission we would be degraded in different ways.''

''Some countries are not enthusiastic at the prospect of a German Fourth Reich being built on the basis of the EU,'' Kaczynski said.

''EU's Court of Justice is being used as an instrument for federalist ideas,'' he added.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eu-poland-spat-polish-pm-accuses-eu-of-blackmail-422078">Also read |&nbsp;EU-Poland spat: Polish PM accuses EU of 'blackmail'</a>

Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the European Union "misinterprets" the powers it has been given.&nbsp;

"The trend of developing democratic centralism ... is unfortunately progressing" he said.

It comes after the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Poland over rulings by the country's constitutional tribunal in July and October that challenged the primacy of EU law over national law.

European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told a news conference the rulings deprived individuals in Polish courts of their legal guarantees in the Treaty of the European Union.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/france-and-germany-say-poland-must-abide-by-eu-rules-419330">Also read |&nbsp;France calls Poland court ruling 'attack against EU'</a>

Gentiloni said the Commission did not consider the tribunal met the requirements of independence and impartiality required by EU law.

The legal action by the Commission, which is the guardian of EU treaties, is an escalation of the conflict with Warsaw over the rule of law that began when Poland's ruling nationalist and euro-sceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party took power in 2015.

Deputy justice minister Sebastian Kaleta wrote on Twitter that the action was an attack on Polish sovereignty and the country's constitution.

However, opposition lawmaker Robert Kropiwnicki said the rulings of the "pseudo-Tribunal" meant Poland was excluding itself from EU treaties, and saying it was another step towards "Polexit".

Poland has two months to reply to the letter of formal notice. If the Commission is not satisfied with Warsaw's reply, it can send Poland a reasoned opinion requesting it to comply with EU law, again with a two-month reply period.

After that, the Commission can sue Poland in the European Court of Justice, which can impose daily fines on Warsaw until it complies.

It has already imposed such daily fines on Poland in two other cases, which now add up to 1.5 million euros ($1.70 million) a day.

(With inputs from agencies)

Poland has accused Germany of turning the European Union (EU) into a federal "Fourth Reich". Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Poland's deputy prime minister and the head of the country's ruling party, ''If we Poles agreed with this kind of modern-day submission we would be degraded in different ways.

Poland has accused Germany of turning the European Union (EU) into a federal "Fourth Reich". Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Poland's deputy prime minister and the head of the country's ruling party, ''If we Poles agreed with this kind of modern-day submission we would be degraded in different ways.'' ''Some countries are not enthusiastic at the prospect of a German Fourth Reich being built on the basis of the EU,'' Kaczynski said. ''EU's Court of Justice is being used as an instrument for federalist ideas,'' he added. Also read | EU-Poland spat: Polish PM accuses EU of 'blackmail' Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the European Union "misinterprets" the powers it has been given. "The trend of developing democratic centralism ... is unfortunately progressing" he said. It comes after the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Poland over rulings by the country's constitutional tribunal in July and October that challenged the primacy of EU law over national law. European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told a news conference the rulings deprived individuals in Polish courts of their legal guarantees in the Treaty of the European Union. Also read | France calls Poland court ruling 'attack against EU' Gentiloni said the Commission did not consider the tribunal met the requirements of independence and impartiality required by EU law. The legal action by the Commission, which is the guardian of EU treaties, is an escalation of the conflict with Warsaw over the rule of law that began when Poland's ruling nationalist and euro-sceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party took power in 2015. Deputy justice minister Sebastian Kaleta wrote on Twitter that the action was an attack on Polish sovereignty and the country's constitution. However, opposition lawmaker Robert Kropiwnicki said the rulings of the "pseudo-Tribunal" meant Poland was excluding itself from EU treaties, and saying it was another step towards "Polexit". Poland has two months to reply to the letter of formal notice. If the Commission is not satisfied with Warsaw's reply, it can send Poland a reasoned opinion requesting it to comply with EU law, again with a two-month reply period. After that, the Commission can sue Poland in the European Court of Justice, which can impose daily fines on Warsaw until it complies. It has already imposed such daily fines on Poland in two other cases, which now add up to 1.5 million euros ($1.70 million) a day. (With inputs from agencies)

Poland accuses Germany of turning EU into 'Fourth Reich'

Polish MPs on Friday adopted a controversial media law seen by critics as an attempt by the right-wing populist government to silence the US-owned independent news channel.

Polish lawmakers vote to tighten US media ownership

Polish MPs adopted a controversial media law seen by critics as an attempt by the right-wing populist government to silence the US-owned independent news channel.

Poland angers US by introducing anti-US media laws amid concerns over press freedom

The last piano owned by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, who is often regarded as the greatest pianist of his time, is being restored in Warsaw.

Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's last piano is being restored in Warsaw

Renovating an old piano is not an easy task. But here is an expert piano restorer who believes he can make an old piano sing again. Watch this report for more.

Bringing Chopin's piano back to life

Migrants on the Belarus-Poland border have caused logistic problems for Russian food producers, who are suffering losses and may have to temporarily cease production if the situation worsens.

Belarus has closed several border crossings with Poland for cargo transport as the European Union accuses Minsk of pushing migrants, mostly from the Middle East, to illegally cross their borders.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pope-francis-heads-to-cyprus-aiming-to-highlight-plight-of-migrants-433650">Pope Francis heads to Cyprus, aiming to highlight plight of migrants</a>

There are long queues of trucks at the four functioning Poland-Belarus border crossings out of the total six. According to Belarus' border service, Lithuania's six crossings are open.

Food producers use the trucks to transport goods and raw materials to Belarus and Russia.

There are typically 400-600 trucks at the crossings into Belarus from Poland at any given time, which causes normal waiting times of 12-24 hours to average 2-4 days.

Every day spent waiting costs 500 euros, which has pushed up transportation costs. An alternative crossing route costs between 300 and 400 euros, sources said.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eu-imposes-fresh-sanctions-on-belarus-433659">EU imposes fresh sanctions on Belarus</a>

Another source on the market said that Russian importers have not yet suffered large losses, as last week's losses had been getting worse, but this week they are slightly better.

"If the situation gets worse, it threatens to break the supply chain and factories will grind to a standstill," the source said.

Traffic congestion in the opposite direction has already worsened.

On November 18, a group of companies including Mars, Pepsi, Danone, Nestle, CocaCola, Metro, and TetraPak appealed to the Russian government to intervene.

Watch |&nbsp;Belarus says EU refused to discuss fate of 2,000 migrants

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/belarus-says-eu-refused-to-discuss-fate-of-2000-migrants-431419/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"The continuation of the current situation could have a significant impact on supply chains and the availability of goods for the public, including essential goods, especially given the increased cargo volumes and heightened demand in the run-up to the New Year holidays," the group, the Foreign Investment Advisory Council, wrote.

According to the letter, about 10&nbsp;of all Russian imports pass through Belarus and Poland.

The office of Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, to whom the letter was addressed, said it would investigate the situation. The Ministry of Transport declined to comment.

Data from the Belarusian border service shows similar delays on the Belarusian side of the border with the European Union. According to the data, 400 to 700 vehicles wait at the border at any given time.

(With inputs from agencies)

Migrants on the Belarus-Poland border have caused logistic problems for Russian food producers, who are suffering losses and may have to temporarily cease production if the situation worsens.

Migrants on the Belarus-Poland border have caused logistic problems for Russian food producers, who are suffering losses and may have to temporarily cease production if the situation worsens. Belarus has closed several border crossings with Poland for cargo transport as the European Union accuses Minsk of pushing migrants, mostly from the Middle East, to illegally cross their borders. Also read | Pope Francis heads to Cyprus, aiming to highlight plight of migrants There are long queues of trucks at the four functioning Poland-Belarus border crossings out of the total six. According to Belarus' border service, Lithuania's six crossings are open. Food producers use the trucks to transport goods and raw materials to Belarus and Russia. There are typically 400-600 trucks at the crossings into Belarus from Poland at any given time, which causes normal waiting times of 12-24 hours to average 2-4 days. Every day spent waiting costs 500 euros, which has pushed up transportation costs. An alternative crossing route costs between 300 and 400 euros, sources said. Also read | EU imposes fresh sanctions on Belarus Another source on the market said that Russian importers have not yet suffered large losses, as last week's losses had been getting worse, but this week they are slightly better. "If the situation gets worse, it threatens to break the supply chain and factories will grind to a standstill," the source said. Traffic congestion in the opposite direction has already worsened. On November 18, a group of companies including Mars, Pepsi, Danone, Nestle, CocaCola, Metro, and TetraPak appealed to the Russian government to intervene. Watch | Belarus says EU refused to discuss fate of 2,000 migrants "The continuation of the current situation could have a significant impact on supply chains and the availability of goods for the public, including essential goods, especially given the increased cargo volumes and heightened demand in the run-up to the New Year holidays," the group, the Foreign Investment Advisory Council, wrote. According to the letter, about 10 of all Russian imports pass through Belarus and Poland. The office of Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, to whom the letter was addressed, said it would investigate the situation. The Ministry of Transport declined to comment. Data from the Belarusian border service shows similar delays on the Belarusian side of the border with the European Union. According to the data, 400 to 700 vehicles wait at the border at any given time. (With inputs from agencies)

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